It seems that Jacob Getzels and Philip Jackson did, in the 1960s, a comparative study between children with a high intelligence quotient (IQ) but a discrete result on a creativity test, and children with a high score on the creativity test but a modest IQ. They observed that the children in the first group (the most intelligent) were more conventional and their motivation more extrinsic, and that those in the second group (the most creative) were more rebellious and their motivation more intrinsic. Obviously, teachers preferred the first group. We do not know if the study was also done for adults, but we dare to think that the bosses would also, most likely, keep the first group. However, creativity is a value on the rise, and in addition, we must admit that IQ is not as good a predictor of success as CE (emotional quotient).
When Peter Drucker -almost 50 years ago- spoke to us about marketing and innovation as basic functions of the company, he alerted us about its contribution to the news that the market demands, expects or celebrates. In the company, innovation therefore aims at new products and services to offer to the market; although also to new methods or procedures that allow improving productivity. And the generation of new products or new procedures tests our creativity. We can create as a consequence of a research work, a casual discovery or a good idea -or everything at the same time and something else-, that is why managers must promote or promote research, serendipity and the outbreak of good ideas in your organizations. Goran Ekvall, from the University of Lund (Sweden),who for years has studied the relationship between innovation and the organizational climate, argues that most of the catalysts for creativity in the company (challenge, openness, internal debate, good humor, risk taking, etc.) are directly related with the leader's behavior. It is as if the creative potential of people is waiting for someone to encourage it or, perhaps, for someone to lift the traditional block.perhaps, that someone lifted the traditional blockade.perhaps, that someone lifted the traditional blockade.
The concept of creativity
Let us briefly recall that the interest in creativity grew significantly in the second half of the 20th century, with Joy Paul Guilford - who already related creativity with divergent thinking - as the initiator of the phenomenon; but, without dwelling on its history, let us advance in the concept. In trying to define creativity - the ability to generate valuable novelty - we align ourselves with its systemic conception. It is not enough that our finding or our idea seems valuable to ourselves: we will talk about creativity when our contribution to the corresponding field is recognized and incorporated by the system (the organization and its environment). Thus, the sanction of our creativity corresponds to the authorities of the field in which we work. The fact is that, linked in the company the concept of creativity with that of innovation,one cannot stop considering that an idea is creative if it is not implemented and works.
Creative personality
It should also be remembered that there are creative individuals by nature, as there are pragmatists, resolvers, conciliators, calculators… A study by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi comes to the conclusion that creatives are individuals with complex personality, presenting opposite personality traits at different times. This prestigious American psychologist, of Hungarian origin and resident in California, talks about creatives as individuals at the same time, and depending on the case, sharp and naive, extraverted and introverted, humble and proud, aggressive and protective, realistic and fanciful, rebellious and conservative, energetic and slow, integrated and differentiated… They are people who in their daily reflections not only ask themselves the what and the how: they also ask themselves why, even several times.
Although the study was carried out on people socially recognized as creators, it must be admitted, from experience, that workers with a creative profile are also characterized by complexity and generally constitute a certain nightmare for their bosses. Naturally, it is easier to lead submissive, predictable and disciplined people; But the new managers assume the challenge of managing each collaborator according to their characteristics and their time, to the benefit of their contribution. Already speaking in business language, Mitchell Ditkoff points to some of the most creative behavioral traits: see the following chart.
- They often question the status quo. Investigate new possibilities. They are self-motivated. They worry about the future. They see possibilities in the impossible. They take risks. They tend to move and interact. They are not afraid to look silly or childish. They see hidden connections. They focus on challenges. and problems. They are insightful. They resist ambiguity and paradox. They learn continuously. They reconcile intuition and analysis. They communicate effectively. They are not easily discouraged. Their individualism does not prevent them from working as a team, if they are given room.
Behavioral characteristics of the most creative, according to M. Ditkoff
Creativity and attention
Although there are indeed more creative people than others, we can all elevate our creativity, by improving all or some of its facilitating elements: imagination, information / training, self-motivation, tenacity, and concentration. It is worth thinking that it is difficult to improve the imagination, although something can be done; but in the other facilitators there is a lot more maneuverability. That's right: as much imagination as we have, if information is hidden from us or we are prevented from concentrating, we can do little. Concentration involves focusing attention and not dispersing it. It is worth dwelling on the issue of care.
We can understand attention as an application of understanding ("be vigilant"); but, interpreting attention more actively as "taking into consideration something, reflecting on it", we observe that some people tend to distribute or disperse their attention and others to concentrate it; some people have a tendency to focus their attention on the positive things and others on the negative; some people attend to details or nuances that are invaluable to others. Well, since attention determines what appears in our consciousness -and optimists are probably happier than pessimists-, it should be remembered, for example, that our happiness depends, to some extent, on how we manage attention. Professor Csikszentmihalyi also talks about this, who identifies attention with psychic energy, and who,Also in his book Creativity, he reminds us that many creative people focus their attention on a certain field. Attention is a limited resource: when we pay attention, we also subtract it; we have to subtract attention to some fields to give it in greater doses to others.
Although it sounds like a demeaning comment, it is true that creative individuals, very attentive to their field but little to the rest of things, are often considered rare, strange and even selfish. Something similar can happen to many managers who, conditioned by their responsibility, appear strange in the eyes of the workers. The fact is that people who direct their attention to very different destinations, look very different from each other and this affects relationships.
The role of managers
It seems to us that, in the company, creativity passes more by specialists than by generalists. The company needs one of these, but creating in a field requires a lot of attention and concentration. There are some managers who think that creativity is their thing and not that of their collaborators; that they do not consider a good idea that has not occurred to them. But, logically, there are also managers who encourage, and do not stifle, the creativity of their collaborators, and are well aware of the role that, as managers, corresponds to innovation (without ruling out the generation of good ideas themselves): we collect it in the following table.
- Creation of favorable climates. Informing and developing collaborators. Diffusion of creativity as a value. Receptivity to suggestions. Identification of innovation focuses. Analysis and definition of problems. Attention to the desired alignment and synergy. Evaluation of innovative proposals. Implementation of valuable ideas. Recognition of creative efforts. Consolidation of innovative experience.
conclusion
The benefits of innovation (perhaps more properly speaking, the harm of complacency and immobility) are manifested when you bet on it authentically, from a company project shared by all its people. From that available reserve of emotional energy and intrinsic motivation, ideas can emerge that add sensible value to the company. They will arise, if the Directorate establishes and maintains the appropriate channels, and develops the intellectual potential of the organization, both in the creative capacity and in the other dimensions of competence. We kept a phrase read in The Daily Telegraph, for the readers who have accompanied us thus far: “Creativity means questioning what is established, and looking for new and better ways of doing things, for the benefit of the organization ”. It serves to remind these employees that they repeatedly ask themselves the reasons for things within companies: first they are identified as critical and perhaps “put under observation”, but, sooner or later, their creative streak is recognized.
